This invention relates to an agricultural harvesting machine and more particularly to an improved feeding device for feeding crop material from the header to a crop treating mechanism in the harvester, such as a combine or the like.
There has been a long standing problem in operating harvesting machines such as combines in hilly terrain, since gravity tends to cause the crop material to shift towards the downhill side of the machine as the crop material moves through the crop treating mechanisms in the machine. The thickened mat of material on the downhill side of the machine, of course, tends to overload the threshing, separating, and cleaning mechanism on the downhill side, the cleaning mechanism being especially susceptible to overloading since it is the last to handle the crop material and the crop has a greater chance to accumulate on the downhill side. The severity of the problem is of course related to the severity of the slope on which the machine is operated. One solution of the problem has been to provide what is known as hillside combines, wherein the wheels on opposite sides of the combine raise and lower according to the slope of the hill so that the combine body is essentially self-leveling. This solution, however, requires complicated and expensive controls and mechanisms to accomplish the self-leveling function.
It is also known to provide fore and aft dividers in the combine separating and cleaning mechanisms to channelize the grain and prevent the shifting to the downhill side of the machine. While this is a partial solution, it does not solve uneven loading of the threshing cylinder. However, the applicants are aware of a combine design wherein doors are provided at the header outlet to close off the header outlet on the downhill side of the machine, so that the crop material leaving the header is chiefly on the uphill side of the machine. As the crop material moves rearwardly through the feeder housing to the threshing cylinder, gravity tends to cause the material to flow downhill so that it is spread somewhat evenly over the width of the cylinder. However, this solution is still somewhat expensive, and further it restricts the discharge capacity of the header since a portion of the outlet is blocked, which in some cases could reduce the harvesting capacity of the machine.